Hill Watch: Update on Budgetary Issues on Capitol Hill

Representatives Wayne Allard (R-CO) and Mark Sanford (R-SC) and Senator Bill
Frist (R-TN) will kick-off their Citizen Congress Act (CCA) -- a bill designed
to respond to growing public demand for a return of a citizen legislature -- at
a press conference on Tuesday, November 14 at 10:30 A.M. in Room 340 Cannon
House Office Building. If approved, the bill would do away with many of the
perks and privileges Members of Congress have grown accustomed to, including the
congressional franking privilege which allows Members of Congress to send out
millions of pieces of self-serving propaganda to their constituents at taxpayer
expense. The franking privilege is believed to be a significant factor in high
incumbent re-election rates -- and thus a major obstacle to returning to the "Citizen
Legislature" envisioned by the Founding Fathers. The measure would also
take aim at the lucrative congressional pension program, which could permit over
250 Members of the 103rd Congress to become "pension millionaires."
The program is not only a waste of taxpayer funds, but because it is so
lucrative, it contributes to congressional careerism. The CCA would replace the
current pension system with one funded out of Members' current salaries. Other
CCA reforms include: Termination of automatic congressional pay increases;
elimination of special VIP parking lots for Members of Congress, diplomats and
Supreme Court Justices at Washington area airports; a ban on the use of military
aircraft for congressional junkets; termination of congressional treatment
privileges at military hospitals, except for those who are veterans or in the
event of an emergency; and a ban on personal use of frequent flyer miles accrued
through trips made at taxpayer expense.

The press conference is sponsored by U.S. Term Limits, Small Business
Survival Committee (SBSC), and Citizens Against Government Waste, among others.
Call U.S. Term Limits at (202)393-6440.

Corporate Heavy-Hitters Openly Lobby to Keep Department of
Commerce Open

While most businesses see little use for the Department of Commerce, with
69% of corporate CEO's favoring its termination in a recent Business Week
survey, a coalition of big businesses have now come out of the closet to help
salvage the agency. AT&T, General Electric, IBM, Raytheon and Westinghouse
(all recipients of government contracts or grants) along with 60 other business
allies are urging all Members of Congress to oppose dismantling Commerce.
Supporters of dismantling the department want the measure to go into the
continuing resolution to keep the government running or the legislative package
to extend the debt ceiling. The Clinton Administration wants the Commerce
provision removed as part of any deal. The big business groups say they want a
balanced budget, but apparently not at the expense of their pet programs. Their
solution? To set up a non-partisan commission to study federal government
restructuring.

A New Misery Index: Indexing Federal Civil Penalties to
Inflation

In eleventh hour negotiations, a provision was added to the House Budget
Reconciliation to index virtually all federal civil penalties to inflation.
Under section 5251 (Subpart E), federal agencies would have to adjust every
civil penalty "at least every four years." OSHA civil penalties had
already been increased by 700% in 1990, from $1,000 to $70,000. The new
provision could result in an immediate increase of these penalties to $80,000.
"In a time when we are attempting to change the focus of government from
one of punitive enforcement to one extending a helping hand, we believe this
provision is impossible to defend," wrote Representatives Bill Goodling
(R-PA), Cass Ballenger (R-NC), Howard McKeon (R-CA), Harris Fawell (R-IL), Pete
Hoekstra (R-MI), and Randy Cunningham (R-CA) in a letter to Speaker Gingrich.